Nile Rodgers axed a song he'd written about his late friend Prince from Chic's new album.

Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers

The 65-year-old musician recorded a "super jazzy" number in honour of the late music icon, who had advised him to honour his roots as a jazz guitarist and release a record in that vein, but following the 'Purple Rain' hitmaker's death in April 2015, Rodgers didn't feel it would be a "appropriate" to include the track titled 'Prince Said It' on 'It's About Time'.

In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, he explained: "I took that song off. I had written a song called 'Prince Said It'. "Prince and I had been friends for such a long time, and he knew that I started out as a jazz guitar player and that I still only practise playing jazz.

"He always said to me: put out a jazz album. So, I was going to put out this song that was super jazzy and the chorus was going to have the whole band stop and go 'Prince said it' just like his song that went 'You sexy mother f***er'.

"Then after Prince passed away, it felt inappropriate. It felt as if I would be capitalising on his death. It just felt wrong to me."

The new features new single 'Till The World Falls', a collaboration with electronic music producer Mura Masa, Cosha and rapper Vic Mensa.

Masa - whose real name is Alex Crossan - said: "Working with Nile at Abbey Road was so enjoyable. It's breathtaking to see a man who has been working and striving towards greatness for so long approaching the writing and recording process with the same joy and passion that he always has.

"Truly an amazing learning experience and a wild fever dream come true."

The track was co-written with rapper Anderson .Paak, anaïs, Vic and Nao.

'It's About Time' is Chic & Nile Rodgers' first album since 1992's 'Chic-ism'.

The LP - which features the likes of Blondie, Bruno Mars, Craig David and Stefflon Don - was partly delayed due to the deaths of Rodgers' famous musician pals, including Prince, David Bowie, George Michael and Chris Cornell.

The 'Le Freak' hitmaker - who was diagnosed with prostate cancer six years ago but was given the all-clear in 2014 - underwent surgery for cancer on his right kidney last year, which also added to the delay.

'It's About Time' is released on September 7.

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